


Dad

by AshWinterGray



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Embarrassment, Family Feels, Hugs, Nicknames, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27552574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshWinterGray/pseuds/AshWinterGray
Summary: Damian accidently discovers the reaction Bruce has when one of his children calls him dad. The rest of his children decided to try it too.Jason thinks his siblings are idiots.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Duke Thomas & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Comments: 42
Kudos: 518





	Dad

Damian was standing nervously off to the side, watching as Bruce studied the situation before him. Somehow, someway, Alfred the cat had gotten his head stuck in a prize vase. Alfred the human had found the poor creature, who had been missing all morning. Somehow, this was deemed to be Bruce’s problem.

He sighed. There was no way to unstick the poor thing without hurting it a little.

“FATHER!” Damian yelped when Alfred the cat let out a pitiful sound. “Please, don’t hurt him.”

Bruce paid his son no mind, carefully fisting his hand around one of Alfred the cat’s legs and twisting it just enough to unstick it. Not to break it, thankfully, but the cat shrieked at the motion. But with the leg unstuck, Alfred the cat yanked himself the rest of the way out of the vase and scurried into Damian’s arms.

“Are you alright?” Damian cooed over the cat, brushing away the tears he would never admit to having. “I’m sorry, my you were hurt, my friend, but you really shouldn’t be near those art rooms. You are lucky dad got you out.”

Bruce went absolutely rigid.

“What did you say?” Bruce breathed, eyes wide as he looked at his son.

Damian went red.

“Nothing. I said nothing, Father. Thank you for saving Alfred. I’ll leave you, now.”

“Damian! Wait!” Bruce lunged for his son, pulling boy and cat to his chest. “I’m-I’m not mad, Damian. Just surprised. Could you please repeat what you said?”

Damian was still red and not daring to meet Bruce’s gaze, even as Bruce turned him around. But Bruce needed to know if he _really_ heard that. If Damian _really_ said it. Damian, on his part, swallowed.

“I, Father, I-I called you Father.”

“Damian. Please.”

“Dad. I called you dad.”

Alfred the cat gave a meep as he was crushed between a broad chest and his human. Damian gave a similar squawk as Bruce held him close and pressed a kiss to his temple.

“Thank you, Damian,” Bruce whispered against his son’s temple.

Damain found himself left standing there as Bruce pulled away from the hug, gave him a blinding smile, and went about the rest of his day.

\---------------------------

_“And then he just left.”_

_“Huh.”_

_“Tt. Is that all you have to say, Drake?”_

_“Well, I’m just surprised we never noticed, is all. It’s obvious now that I think about it.”_

_“What do you mean, Timmy?”_

_“Bruce wants us to call him dad, Dick. I think he’s always wanted that.”_

\----------------------------

Cass had grabbed both of Bruce’s hands and tugged him to the ballroom. She had been grinning like mad since they started dancing. It had been some time since he had seen his daughter this happy. Even as he tripped over her feet at the more complex dances, she just giggled and rightened him as if they had never stopped.

“You were marvelous, Cass,” he gave her a winded breath as the last song finally ended. “I’m proud of you.”

Cass gave a giggle, stepping on tiptoes to kiss his nose. “Love you too, dad.”

Bruce’s brain short-circuited.

Cass, however, did not acknowledge the change in Bruce’s demeanor, and instead changed her playlist to Ballet, once more dancing around the room. Bruce found himself striding towards her, pulling her into an embrace.

It had been one thing when Damian began to call him dad a week ago, but now Cass. Bruce wasn’t ashamed to admit he was crying.

“Thank you, Cass.”

Cass smiled bright and blinding.

\----------------------------

_“Little brother was right. He wants to be called dad.”_

_“See!”_

_“Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll admit it.”_

_“So…what, are we all just supposed to call him dad, now?”_

_“Tt. The only one worthy of calling him by that name is me.”_

_“Damian! Enough. We’ve been over this already. But, no, Duke, you don’t have to call him ‘dad’ if you don’t want to. He won’t force you, and neither will we.”_

_“Okay. Thanks, Dick.”_

\--------------------------------

“Mind block?”

Duke turned to see Bruce watching him with a fond expression. Damian had been calling Bruce ‘dad’ for around a month, now, with Cass only a week behind him. Dick and Tim weren’t around enough to notice, but the three who lived with Bruce could plainly see how relaxed it made the man.

“Yeah,” Duke turned his head back to the crossword puzzle. “I know the answer was on that kids TV show, but I can’t remember what it was.”

“Oh? What question?”

“What is the tip of the shoelace called?”

Bruce was silent for a moment.

“That has a name?”

Duke rolled his eyes, deciding it was time to cheat. Bruce joined him on the couch, watching the weird music video from some kids cartoon that informed them that the tip of the shoelace was called aglet.

“I don’t think I’ve ever watched this show before,” Bruce admitted as Duke filled in the last answer on the crossword.

“Really? It was pretty popular. I used to watch it with my parents all the time before the last season ended. Though I hear they’re making a movie.”

Bruce seemed to shift. “Would you-would you like to watch with me? And the rest of the family, of course. But-”

“I’d like that,” Duke smiled at Bruce before he could shut down in panic. “Dick used to tell me about the crazy family movie nights you would have. This would be fun.”

Bruce smiled that bright smile that had become a constant in the Manor. “Good. I’m glad.”

“Me too, dad.”

It was a slip. Duke honestly didn’t believe he was ready to call Bruce by that name just yet. But saying it had felt so right. It still felt right. However, Duke didn’t get much time to dwell on that thought as Bruce promptly fell off the couch.

\------------------------

_“Drake, stop laughing!”_

_“Come on, little D! Lighten up! That was hilarious!”_

_“Cameras? Can we see?”_

_“I’ll- *wheeze*- I’ll check *snort* latter!”_

_“It was actually really funny.”_

_\----------------------------_

Tim and Bruce were going over documents at W.E. It was the first time they were seeing each other out of costume in almost a month and a half. There had been several charities, a global pandemic, a Gotham strike, and a few other things that kept the two on their toes. Lucius had been given the day off, and that left father and son to finish the paperwork.

“Annnnnndddd…that’s the last one,” Tim sighed, putting his signature down and adding it to the last stack. “Good. Great. I need coffee.”

Bruce chuckled. “Why don’t I get us lunch, and you take a nap?”

“That works too. But I still want coffee.”

“I’ll think about it,” Bruce drawled, still amused. “Batburger?”

“Yes, please,” Tim was already headed to the couch where a throw blanket had already been left. “Thanks, Bruce. I’m glad you agreed to be CEO again.”

“I don’t want you overworking yourself, Tim,” Bruce placed a hand on his shoulder. “If I had known how hard you were pushing yourself, I would have stepped in sooner. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize you were suffering.”

Tim shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re back. Maybe I’ll even get to come to the Manor for dinner again so long as I don’t sleep through it.”

Bruce chuckled. “Then I suppose I should get you that coffee.”

“Yeah. Thanks, dad.”

Bruce promptly walk into the door. Literally. The closed door.

\------------------------------

_“Stop! Stop! It hurts!”_

_“Breathe, Dick.”_

_“I-I can’t! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH!”_

_“Dude. Imagine what would happen if **you** said that to Bruce, Dick.”_

\-------------------------

Dick got that chance a few days later when Amy Rohrbach called Bruce because Dick was sick out of his mind. Now bundled in blankets, high on medication, full of Alfred’s soup, and utterly congested and miserable; Dick found himself watching old cartoons with Bruce in Bruce’s bedroom like old times. Only with a few more siblings scattered about.

“Dick. Do you want another one or do you want to sleep?”

Dick did his best to stretch, burying himself against Bruce’s chest, tucking his head into Bruce’s shoulder. “Can’t we do both?”

Bruce chuckled. “Sure, chum. We can do both.”

There was some shuffling, but Bruce only adjusted his grip on Dick, pulling him closer. Dick leaned into the warmth as more cartoons began to play on the TV.

“Love you, dad.”

Bruce promptly dropped Dick, then scrambled to pick him up again. The story would have been funny if it ended there, but it didn’t. Because Bruce cried. Then, once Dick was better, he avoided Dick. Terrified. He had promised Dick he would never take the place of his parents.

“But what if I want you too?” Dick whispered when he finally managed to corner Bruce. With the help of his siblings. “What if…what if I changed my mind?”

“Dick, I-”

“You’re my dad, Bruce,” Dick reached out for him, not quite giving a hug, but placing himself in a position to give one. “You’re my dad just as much as my birth dad was. I _want_ you to be my dad.”

Bruce cried again, pulled his children close as he sobbed and told them he loved them.

\--------------------------

_“Come on, Little Wing, it’s funny!”_

_“You act like you’ve never seen Bruce react to any of you calling him dad before.”_

_**Silence.**_

_“Wait. None of you have tried to call him dad before?”_

_“You have?”_

_“Well…yeah. He was my dad. He broke down in tears and tripped into the fridge the first time I called him dad. I panicked and hid in my room. I used to call him dad all the time.”_

_“Jason-”_

_“Don’t worry about it. Bruce has made his thoughts on me saying that name to him clear.”_

_**SLAP!**_

_“Stupid. Stupid little brother._

\------------------------------

Bruce heard the whispering from the foyer. Alfred had come to get him just seconds ago, and he wasn’t sure what to expect from this. He certainly hadn’t expected to see his children surrounded Jason. To his further surprise, Jason only seemed mildly annoyed.

“Jason?”

Jason went rigid.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Dick grinned up at Bruce before ushering them to the other room. This left Jason in front of the door and Bruce at the top of the stairs. “Have fun you two!”

“Jason?” Bruce asked again, refraining from using his nicknames for his son. As he always did. “Is something wrong?”

Jason swallowed and looked Bruce in the eye, trying to convey everything their long night conversation had done for him. That, and Cass’s slap.

“Hey, dad.”

Bruce promptly tripped down the stairs, but Jason dove to catch him.

The result was a tear-filled embrace, and Bruce finally called Jason his son again.


End file.
